What happened at the August 18th Council meeting: Tax give away to Neighborhood Resource Center passes, DADU text amendment for "RS" withdrawn, ...

... Piedmont Gas land and money give away passes and Mayor Dean addresses the Council. 



I am going to make this short. To see what is on the agenda and what I thought about it and to get your own copy of the agenda and the staff analysis follow this link: What is on the Metro Council Agenda for Aug. 18, 2015: tax giveaway to Neighborhood Resource Center, DADU text amendment, 

This is the last meeting of this Council. When the next council meeting occurs, it will be the newly elected member of the council. No old business can continue over so all bills that were deferred in this term of the Council and not passed are now dead. 

Following the pledge and prayer, Mayor Karl Dean addresses the Council, which is rare. He thanks the Council for their service, pats himself on the back and list some accomplishments and says nothing very important.

Everything on the agenda passes unless except  a few zoning bills that are of local neighborhood interest only and these:
SUBSTITUTE BILL NO. BL2015-1120 which establishes a provision in the zoning text that would permit communities that are zoned "RS" to have detached accessory dwelling unit on those properties, if a DADU overlay is placed on the properties is withdrawn.
 BILL NO. BL2015-1155 would apply a DADU overlay to about 129 acres of "R" zoned property in East Nashville and it is withdrawn.
BILL NO. BL2015-1272 in Councilman Scott Davis's district would apply a DADU overlay to 672 acres. Since 1120 above did not pass, this could not pass since that option is not now available for these properties. 

Below are some explanations and additional observations:

RESOLUTION NO. RS2015-1605 is for a paper shredder truck, not a wood chipper truck.
BILL NO. BL2014-838, which would extend an historical overlay on lower Broadway passes but two parcels had already taken out building permits to change the character of their building so now they are vested in that proposed change and this will not protect those buildings.  If this would have passed back in October 2014, that would not have happened. 
BILL NO. BL2015-1304  is the tax give away to the Neighborhood Resource Center. It passes without discussion on a machine vote of 33 "yes," 5 "no," and 2 abstentions. The five good councilmen who voted "no" were Stites, Clairborne, Dominy, Duvall, and Mitchel. 
BILL NO. BL2015-1306  is another of those PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) sweetheart deals to encourage businesses to locate or expand in Nashville. This one would lure a company from Lavergne to Nashville and give them a $710,000 tax break. It passes on a machine vote of 35 "yes," 2 "no", and 2 abstentions. The two good councilmen who voted "no" were Josh Stites and Tony Tennpenny.
BILL NO. BL2015-1308 gives Piedmont Natural Gas two pieces of property and $159,617 to reimburse them for $530K of cost they had in relocating a pipeline during the construction of the Sounds ballpark. It passes on a machine vote of 33 in favor, 3 against and 3 abstentions. The council members who voted "no," which I think was the correct way to vote, were Josh Stites, Robert Duval, and Bo Mitchel.
About the last four minutes of the meeting are various farewell comments. 

Here is The Tennessean's report on the meeting: Council agrees to give Piedmont 80 acres, $160K for stadium work

Top Stories